Tennis Today: Introducing Denis Shaposomething

Shahida Jacobs
January 2, 2018

Welcome to our first Tennis Today edition of 2018. Here you can get the lowdown of what is going on in the world of tennis.

What’s On The Site
It’s not good news for Andy Murray fans with the Australian Open just around the corner. Check out the latest about his participation in the Brisbane International.

It means Murray will go into the first Grand Slam of the year a little undercooked, but could he pull off a surprise and win the Australian Open? You are likely to get good odds now.

Speaking of the bookies, get into the groove with T365 tipster Deggsy’s betting highs. Of course for every high there is also a low so read up on Deggsy’s betting lows as well.

What’s In The Papers
Most of the papers are leading with Murray’s latest injury setback as well as Garbine Mugurza’s withdrawal from the Brisbane International.

Sticking with injuries, Roger Federer tells Watoday.com.au it is not strange to see so many of the top players out injured as they are getting old. Fair point Roger, fair point.

And his rival Rafael Nadal agrees that tennis doesn’t have a problem when it comes to the next generation.

Marat Safin recently raised questions about the future of the sport with veterans like Nadal and Federer still dominating the tennis despite their old age, but in an interview with Lequipe.fr, Nadal downplayed those concerns.

Read some translated extracts from the interview on Tennisworldusa.org.

What’s On Social
And back to Murray, he posted a nice little sob story, cute picture and all, on Instagram on his withdrawal from the Brisbane International. We wish you a speedy recovery Andy!

Hey everyone.. Just wanted to write a little message on here for anyone interested in what in going through right now. Firstly I want to apologise to @brisbanetennis for withdrawing at late notice and to everyone who wanted to come along to watch me play(or lose??) The organisers couldn’t have been more understanding and supportive and I’ll always remember that. Thank you. I’ve obviously been going through a really difficult period with my hip for a long time and have sought council from a number of hip specialists. Having been recommended to treat my hip conservatively since the US Open I have done everything asked of me from a rehab perspective and worked extremely hard to try get back on the court competing. Having played practice sets here in Brisbane with some top players unfortunately this hasn’t worked yet to get me to the level I would like so I have to reassess my options. Obviously continuing rehab is one option and giving my hip more time to recover. Surgery is also an option but the chances of a successful outcome are not as I high as I would like which has made this my secondary option and my hope has been to avoid that. However this is something I may have to consider but let’s hope not. I choose this pic as the little kid inside me just wants to play tennis and Compete.. I genuinely miss it so much and i would give anything to be back out there. I didn’t realise until these last few months just how much I love this game. Everytime I wake up from sleeping or napping i hope that it’s better and it’s quite demoralising when you get on the court it’s not at the level you need it to be to compete at this level. In the short term I’m going to be staying in Australia for the next couple of days to see if my hip settles down a bit and will decide by the weekend whether to stay out here or fly home to assess what I do next. Sorry for the long post but I wanted to keep everyone in the loop and get this off my chest as it’s really hurting inside. Hope to see you back on the court soon ??????

A post shared by Andy Murray (@andymurray) on Jan 2, 2018 at 1:23am PST

Then there is Denis Shaposomething.

Close enough https://t.co/oODgs2GNvN

— Denis Shapovalov (@denis_shapo) January 2, 2018

Of course Eugenie Bouchard has another snap of her on the beach.

Afternoons off ??

A post shared by Genie Bouchard (@geniebouchard) on Jan 1, 2018 at 11:29pm PST

Bonne et heureuse année à tous !! / Happy New Year to all of you ??? Well arrived in Melbourne ???? First run of the year #LetsStart2018Season #TsongaTeam

A post shared by Jo-Wilfried TSONGA (@tsongaofficiel) on Jan 2, 2018 at 1:31am PST

#USOpen Throwback (1994): With Richard Krajicek up 6-0 in a tiebreak, John McEnroe declared he’d “stand on my head” if the Dutchman lost the set. As always, Johnny Mac is a man of his word! Give him a ?? if this gave you a good laugh for the day. #usta #johnmcenroe #richardkrajicek #tennis #protennis #instatennis #instasports #instafunny

A post shared by USTA (@usta) on Jan 1, 2018 at 12:03pm PST

What’s On TV
There’s plenty of live action underway not only in Australia, but also in Doha.

Eurosport 1 will cover the Hopman Cup, which features the likes of Roger Federer, Alexander Zverev, David Goffin, Angelique Keber and Eugenie Bouchard while the Qatar Open is on Eurosport 2.

08:30-14:30 Eurosport 1
LIVE – Hopman Cup

12:30-18:30 Eurosport 2
LIVE – ATP Qatar Open